Team USA Is WBSC Women's World Champions
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| Team USA Is WBSC Women's World Champions Photo Supplied By RollTide.com |
Former Alabama Crimson Tide softball teammates Haylie McCleney and Jackie Traina again joined forces to walk in victory together. Team USA members and former these former Alabama softball All-Americans led Team USA to an undefeated week at the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Women's World Championship, ultimately resounding winning 7-3 over Japan to claim the championship title. The win came in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
Both McCleney and Traina are not only great softball players and great athletes all-round, they are outstanding people having gracious personalities. Speaking with a couple that know them, they are friendly, outgoing and kind young ladies. Competitors to the core, but they are also caring human beings.
Actually three from the state of Alabama helped in the victory, with one having played her college softball at Auburn University. Joining McCleney and Traina in the victory from Alabama is Kasey Cooper. Cooper still currently plays for the Tigers. Cooper actually drove in the winning run in Saturday's semifinal with a single.
The title is the first for the United States since 2010 and finally dethrones two-time defending champion Japan. Japan had previously defeated the United States earlier this summer in the championship game at the World Cup of Softball XI.
Shell-shocking its opponents through the first seven games by outscoring them 72-4, Team USA won a close 4-3 game over Japan on Saturday to set up a rematch in the championship game. A four-run first inning followed by an insurance home run by McCleney in the fourth ultimately gave Team USA the 7-3 win in the title game.
McCleney started in eight of the nine contests, managing 10 hits, seven runs and six RBIs. Four of her 10 hits went for extra bases, including three for triples as well as a three-run home run in the fourth inning of the championship game that scored Team USA's final three runs of the day. Traina pitched 7.2 innings over five games, including a win in her only start on July 21st against the Philippines. She managed to strike out 10 batters while allowing just one earned run (0.97 ERA).
Traina is currently in her fourth season with Team USA. She was a four-time All-American pitcher from 2011-14 with Alabama, helping the Crimson Tide to its first national title as a sophomore back in 2012.
McCleney is in her third season with the U.S. National team after completing her senior season in 2016. She earned her fourth All-America nomination as a senior and capped her career as the Tide softball leader in batting average (.447), on base percentage (.569), walks (199) and triples (16).
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Defensive End Malik Herring Includes Tide In Top 5
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| Malik Herring Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
University of Alabama Crimson Tide football has been included in another "Top" list. Forsyth (Georgia) Mary Persons High School defensive end Malik Herring has included the Crimson Tide in his recently-released top five schools.
The 2017 four-star prospect yesterday tweeted that Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Clemson and USC are his top five picks to play college football. He added the message, "God gets all the glory!"
The 6' 4", 265-pound Herring is rated as the No. 4 strong-side defensive end, and the No. 94 overall player in the country according to the 247Sports Composite.
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Bama Baseball Hosts Alabama Prospect Camp
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| Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
The University of Alabama Crimson Tide baseball staff will be hosting the Alabama Prospect Camp for two days, August 26-27, according to baseball head coach Greg Goff. The camp will be held inside Sewell-Thomas Stadium, and targets high school age players from ninth through 12th grade that are looking to take their game to the next level.
Check in will be at 5 p.m. on Friday inside the Joe before introductions begin at 6 p.m. on Day One. Dynamic warm-ups are set to start at 6:15 p.m. and will be followed by conditioning and a defensive workout that kicks off at 6:45 p.m., running for 45 minutes. At 7:30 p.m., defensive instruction will begin and is followed by an 8:15 p.m. offensive workout and instruction session to conclude day one.
Saturday will feature six two-hour games between camp teams, with the first contest scheduled for 8 a.m. and the final game's first pitch set for 6 p.m. All teams are guaranteed two games on Saturday. Each inning in the games will be five hitters in length with all counts starting off at 1-1.
Spaces are limited for the camp and attendees are asked to provide their position so that coaches can divide up camp teams based on a player's primary position. Those who list pitcher as their secondary position will be given the chance to throw a bullpen in front of the UA coaching staff.
Cost for the camp is $290 for position/two-way players and $250 for athletes who are pitchers only. Those in attendance will receive a camp T-shirt, but are asked to bring their own equipment and are reminded that lunch and dinner will not be provided by the University of Alabama.
Complete information on the Crimson Tide's Prospect Camp can be found by going to www.AlabamaBaseballCamps.com. Prospective campers can also contact camp director Derek Simmons at (205) 348-4459 or by email at dsimmons@ia.ua.edu.
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Crimson Tide Volleyball Earns AVCA Team Academic Award
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| Alabama Crimson Tide Volleyball Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
The announcement came just yesterday that The University of Alabama Volleyball Program is one of 131 Division I women's volleyball programs that has earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2015-16 school year.
The AVCA Team Academic Award is a special honor, in that it recognizes and honors collegiate athletes of all levels as well as high school athletes. A total of 762 teams took home awards this season across Division I, II, III, NAIA, two-year colleges, NJCCAA, collegiate men, high school girls, high school boys and college sand volleyball. The award honors teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.
This marks the second consecutive season that Alabama has won the prestigious award. The Crimson Tide was one of four Southeastern Conference teams making this year's list. The other three are Kentucky, Missouri and South Carolina. The Crimson Tide and the Wildcats were the only two programs among the four to have a player be named Academic All-America, with Alabama's Sierra Wilson and Kentucky's Morgan Bergren named to the First Team as seniors this past season.
The AVCA Team Academic Award is a special honor, in that it recognizes and honors collegiate athletes of all levels as well as high school athletes. A total of 762 teams took home awards this season across Division I, II, III, NAIA, two-year colleges, NJCCAA, collegiate men, high school girls, high school boys and college sand volleyball. The award honors teams that displayed excellence in the classroom during the school year by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team GPA on a 4.0 scale or a 4.10 cumulative team GPA on a 5.0 scale.
This marks the second consecutive season that Alabama has won the prestigious award. The Crimson Tide was one of four Southeastern Conference teams making this year's list. The other three are Kentucky, Missouri and South Carolina. The Crimson Tide and the Wildcats were the only two programs among the four to have a player be named Academic All-America, with Alabama's Sierra Wilson and Kentucky's Morgan Bergren named to the First Team as seniors this past season.
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Haylie McCleney Nominated NCAA Woman Of The Year
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| Haylie McCleney Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
So many time her name has been called...on television, radio, podcasts...seen in blogs, newspapers and magazines. Now her name is being seen and heard again Former University of Alabama Crimson Tide softball player Haylie McCleney
has been selected by the Southeastern Conference as one of its two
nominees for the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. She was nominated along with former
Arkansas track and field standout Taylor Ellis-Watson.
This now makes five times in the last seven years that an Alabama student-athlete has been named an NCAA Woman of the Year nominee and the first for an Alabama softball player since Brittany Rogers in 2010. Other University of Alabama nominees include gymnasts Kim Jacob (2015) and Ashley Press (2013) as well as golfer Brooke Pancake (2012).
The NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. This year, 515 honorees were nominated, the most ever in the history of the Woman of the Year program. This marks the 26th year of the Woman of the Year Award program, which was established in 1991.
The 10 top honorees will be chosen by the NCAA selection committee within Divisions I, II and III. From those 30 candidates, the selection committee will determine the top three in each of the divisions. The Committee on Women's Athletics will select the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year, and the winner will be announced at a ceremony on Sunday, October 16th in Indianapolis, Indiana.
McCleney is the Crimson Tide's sixth four-time All-American, earning First Team honors in three of her four seasons of softball. She completed her senior season in 2016 as Alabama's career leader in batting average (.447), on-base percentage (.569), walks (199) and triples (16) while also ranking in the top five in stolen base percentage (2nd - .944), runs scored (2nd – 279), slugging percentage (3rd - .690), doubles (3rd – 57), total bases (3rd – 483), hits (4th – 313) and stolen bases (5th – 118).
She is only the fifth player in Alabama softball history and the 21st in NCAA history to total 300 hits, 200 runs and 100 stolen bases. She is a four-time All-SEC and SEC All-Defensive team honoree as well.
McCleney is a three-time First Team Academic All-American and a two-time Academic All-American of the Year selection. She is just the third two-time winner since the yearly award was introduced in 1988. McCleney and former teammate Kayla Braud (2010-13) are the only players in program history to earn First Team honors as an All-American and Academic All-American in the same season. She was named the 2016 H. Boyd McWhorter SEC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was the SEC's Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year last year.
McCleney graduated this year with a 4.0 cumulative grade point average in exercise science and won the Senior CLASS Award, the third Alabama student-athlete to do so.
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| Haylie McCleney Photo Credit: RollTide.com |
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Alabama's Tommy Wilcox To Be Honored
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| Tommy Wilcox Pinterest Photo |
He is a Louisiana boy with an Alabama heart. Former University of Alabama safety Tommy Wilcox
will be one of four inductees into the Allstate Sugar Bowl's Greater New
Orleans Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday, August 6 at the Mercedes-Benz
Superdome. Each year's Hall of Fame class is selected by the Greater New
Orleans Sports Awards Committee, a group of current and former media
members who annually recognize a variety of award-winners, including the
Corbett Awards and the Eddie Robinson Award. The group also selects the
Greater New Orleans Amateur Athlete of the Month each month.
Concerning the honor, Wilcox said, "I really appreciate this. But as I have said many times, this is not just about one player. So many people have had a role in this, from my father (Freddie), to the great coaches at Bonnabel (High School) and Alabama, to all the kids I played with. I would just like to thank all of them."
Wilcox was a safety on Alabama's 1979 national championship squad, was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year that season, as well as first team All-American in 1981. Then in 1992, he was voted to the Alabama 'Team of the Century' which included just four defensive backs from the Tide's first 100 years.
At Bonnabell High School he was named the Class 4A All-State quarterback, as well as all-district and all-city, before facing an onslaught of recruiters. He chose the Crimson Tide, and signed with Alabama at the Harahan City Hall where his late father Freddie served as mayor for 16 years.
Wilcox said, "Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Oklahoma – they were all after me but I kind of wanted to stay closer to home. There was just something about Alabama. I have always prided myself by not always doing the easy thing. I knew if I could make it at Alabama, I could make it anywhere.
"Coach (Paul "Bear") Bryant was the only coach who made no promises, not a jersey number nor a guarantee to start. He told me I have a chance to be on TV and a chance to win a national championship ring."
Wilcox was previously inducted into the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
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| Wilcox & Friends Quail Hunting Photo Credit: AL.com |
